Doug Ford starts privatizing health care
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John Ralston Saul
This Minister knows full well that she is proposing the formalization of 2 tier health care. A class based system. Not a citizen based system. We are neither idiots nor ignorant. This is an insult to the intelligence of the citizenry.
TORONTO – Yesterday, the Ford government announced plans to expand private, for-profit health care in Ontario. The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is calling the move, “entirely out of touch with what Ontarians want and need.”
According to polling conducted by Environics Research, nearly eight in ten Ontarians (78%) believe the Ford government should use public money to increase funding to public hospitals and clinics, so they can rebuild capacity, instead of redirecting funding to private, for-profit clinics. Six in ten Ontarians (59%) oppose more involvement by private for-profit health care providers, as a solution to the problems facing health care.
“Ontarians can clearly see that the Ford government has created a crisis to pursue their agenda of privatization,” said Patty Coates, Ontario Federation of Labour President. “Diverting funds from our public health care system to private, for-profit surgical clinics will not solve the staffing crisis and years of underfunding that have fueled the current crisis.”
The online poll of 1,000 Ontarians found that a strong majority of people believe that private companies offering health care services will lead to richer people jumping the queue (79%) and that the Ford government is leading Ontario to two-tier health care (61%).
“Ontarians understand that the priorities of for-profit providers are simply not the same as publicly delivered health care,” added Coates. According to the poll, 81% of Ontarians believe the main objective of private for-profit health care companies is to make more money for their owners and shareholders.
Coates added, “The pandemic proved that a profit-driven approach to health care is bad for patients. Long-term care is the most haunting example, where deaths were significantly higher in for-profit homes.”
The OFL has pointed to the need for greater public funding into publicly delivered health care, and the repeal of Bill 124 as urgent measures that must be taken to address the health care crisis. Ontarians agree with these demands. Almost eight in ten (78%) support the Ontario government increasing public hospital funding to the Canadian average, even if this adds to the deficit or means higher taxes, and 70% of Ontarians oppose Bill 124.
“Enough is enough of Ford’s scheme to erode public health care for private gain,” said Coates. “Workers have lost confidence in the Ford government. We are united in the fight to defend public health care.”
The OFL will launch a new campaign on January 28. Included among the five demands of the campaign is a call to keep health care public.
This Environics Research poll was conducted online between November 29 and December 10 with a sample size of 1000. View the Opinion Survey referenced, here.
The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.
According to polling conducted by Environics Research, nearly eight in ten Ontarians (78%) believe the Ford government should use public money to increase funding to public hospitals and clinics, so they can rebuild capacity, instead of redirecting funding to private, for-profit clinics. Six in ten Ontarians (59%) oppose more involvement by private for-profit health care providers, as a solution to the problems facing health care.
“Ontarians can clearly see that the Ford government has created a crisis to pursue their agenda of privatization,” said Patty Coates, Ontario Federation of Labour President. “Diverting funds from our public health care system to private, for-profit surgical clinics will not solve the staffing crisis and years of underfunding that have fueled the current crisis.”
The online poll of 1,000 Ontarians found that a strong majority of people believe that private companies offering health care services will lead to richer people jumping the queue (79%) and that the Ford government is leading Ontario to two-tier health care (61%).
“Ontarians understand that the priorities of for-profit providers are simply not the same as publicly delivered health care,” added Coates. According to the poll, 81% of Ontarians believe the main objective of private for-profit health care companies is to make more money for their owners and shareholders.
Coates added, “The pandemic proved that a profit-driven approach to health care is bad for patients. Long-term care is the most haunting example, where deaths were significantly higher in for-profit homes.”
The OFL has pointed to the need for greater public funding into publicly delivered health care, and the repeal of Bill 124 as urgent measures that must be taken to address the health care crisis. Ontarians agree with these demands. Almost eight in ten (78%) support the Ontario government increasing public hospital funding to the Canadian average, even if this adds to the deficit or means higher taxes, and 70% of Ontarians oppose Bill 124.
“Enough is enough of Ford’s scheme to erode public health care for private gain,” said Coates. “Workers have lost confidence in the Ford government. We are united in the fight to defend public health care.”
The OFL will launch a new campaign on January 28. Included among the five demands of the campaign is a call to keep health care public.
This Environics Research poll was conducted online between November 29 and December 10 with a sample size of 1000. View the Opinion Survey referenced, here.
The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.
I have many friends in the US who pay a lot less than $8,500 for private healthcare insurance in the US. And they receive excellent care. Wait times for cancer treatments, surgeries etc. are far less than ours in Ontario. The problem with the US system is that those without insurance don't get the care they need. I'm not suggesting we adopt a US style healthcare system, but changes need to be made. Not just throw more money at a broken system. It's like pouring water into a leaky bathtub. More water isn't going to fix the problem.
Germany is a good example of how PPP healthcare works.
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If you think we don't already have two-tiered healthcare in Ontario, think again. If you book an MRI though your GP it can take months to get an appointment. Or, you can pay just shy of $1,000 and get one in a day or two. There's several locations that offer this service. The catch is, the payment must be made by a company and you have to agree to not pay the company back. So in other words, all you have to do is have a friend who owns a company pay for it, and you pay them back. It happens every day.
Canada and the US operate differently than counties in the EU on every level.
What works there will not work here.
Too many Fords and Trumps in the mix here.Also many newcomers come to Canada and finesse the shit out of the system.
But sure, please, vote Ford in again and again and again. JT, sadly best of the worst choices we have.
I know all too well. You don't need to go through a company. I go to Buffalo to get MRI. It cost $535.
What a surprise, people who stand to profit from Ford's privatization donated heavily to his campaign.
Will this one end up stinking as much as the greenbelt one, now being investigated?
Will this one end up stinking as much as the greenbelt one, now being investigated?
If you want to pay for an MRI in Ontario, it must be paid for by a company. In other words, someone other than yourself. It's the law. These places can't bill the general public for services. This of course doesn't apply if you travel to the US to get one. There you give them your CC and you're good to go.
Oh yes, the greenbelt. We'll have to wait and see.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/colu...-rules-for-conservatives-another-for-liberals
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We presently have private healthcare, much of it funded by OHIP; for example, blood labs. Diagnostic clinics (mri, colonoscopy). We also have private doctors (medcam)
ohip could be better if it was administered like insurance and we as patients/clients had more choices. why people are so terrified by the prospect of it is beyond me.
JFYI, healthcare isn’t free in Ontario, we pay for it. The govt doesn’t pay for it we do.
ohip could be better if it was administered like insurance and we as patients/clients had more choices. why people are so terrified by the prospect of it is beyond me.
JFYI, healthcare isn’t free in Ontario, we pay for it. The govt doesn’t pay for it we do.
When a Union starts bitching about change, it usually means the correct decisions are being made outside of their control.
All types of government (Liberal, Conservative and NDP) have had a kick at trying to fix the current system and all have failed. Time to try a different model.
My guess is that most other provinces will follow suit as it usually takes one government who has the balls to do do it first.
A government that's already shown itself corrupt and incompetent doesn't deserve the chance.
Doug Ford does not have a mandate to privatize Health Care.
He did not have it as an election program, because he would not have been elected if he had.
